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Death by Google Calendar
the_harlequin writes "Ok, so the title is a little extreme, but it's a possibility. The link gives an example of how easy it is to obtain information about someone who uses Google Calendar, and is unaware of what they're allowing the world to see."
So I should be fine if I simply add some fake reoccurring classes to my calendar. I think I am going to "fake" take up some firearms classes and some marshal arts. It will also not hurt to add something else like, Tuesdays I will have a "fake" pit bull owners club. Or I could just not put flight information in my calendar.
quis custodiet ipsos custodes
Any calendar site can be exploited in this way. As with many aspects of computer usage, user intelligence (posting info w/discretion) and proper privacy settings (think Facebook here) is all that's necessary. I say this is a non-issue, especially for hopefully more-intelligent /. nerds.
Cogito, ergo sum, fosho!
I don't know the answer to, "should we expect more crime?" because of the internet. There are stories in the news about molesters and the internet, but is the internet merely a different avenue for crime? Or does it open floodgates for increased crime?
I don't know that I've seen overwhelming evidence the crime rates have surged -- makes me wonder, is there some expected value for crime rates, regardless of the mechanism? This would make for an interesting study -- to date what I've seen is mostly anecdotal.
The example cited in the article is interesting, but I wonder that it really changes tactics -- a thief, a burglar, usually works on opportunity, and someone's calendar is as reliable in determining what a "household" is doing as the person maintaining that calendar.... My experience has been people maintaining calendars accurately, not so much.
On the uncertainty alone, a criminal would still have to case a target on the chance a calendar entry was inaccurate, an event was canceled but not taken off the calendar, etc.
Credit to the author for giving instructions to make Google calendars private -- an option with which I strongly agree...
First of all, I'd like to point out that this trick only works IF you set your calendar to share with the entire world. This is in no way a way to 'hack' google, as it were.
Furthermore, in the real world, this is very likely rediculous. If I'm a criminal, what are the chances that I'm going to find someone in my area that uses google calendar on a regular basis, AND has a trip or event planned with specific times that tell me when they're going to be out of the house.
If I were trying to steal something, it would be much easier to just get in my car, cruise around, find a house that looks empty, bump/pick the lock, walk in, and take stuff.
http://www.TheGamerNation.com/Forums
Anyone wanna crash Daisy's all girl pool party?
This guy's the limit!
...this is only true if you're "smart" enough to publicly share the calendar with everyone.
By default the caldendar is unshared, so the fault is in the end user.
You can avoid this entirely by simply marking your calendar as "private," or "share with friends only."
This person isn't hacking google, he's simply viewing public calendars. If your calendar isn't public, there's no problem.
Check TFA.
http://www.TheGamerNation.com/Forums
always bullshit when i hear things like this.. its like when the dumb ass that wrote that Google Documentary and made them look like the biggest most horrible big brother company thats out there, all because of how powerful Google Earth is.. FOR SHAME GOOGLE for allowing terrorists to pinpoint locations!! oh come-the-fuck-on.. every bit of satellite imagery that's out there has nothing to even do with google.. governments and scientists work together in providing PUBLIC geographic data.. Google simple is one of the very few people that actually use it..
*plays the Apogee theme song music*
I have this same problem at work with co-workers and Lotus Notes too. They can see everything I put on my calendar by default, unless I purposely block stuff and make it unreadable to them.
"I find it...utterly stupid that people display their lives online..."
Such as a blog?
in other news water banned as can be used as offensive weapon. /captain obvious to the rescue
Promote Charity on Myspace, Show Your Colours!
Maybe I missed something, but why does one person being out of the house mean the house is empty? What about partners, housemates etc?
Maybe people will discuss you on www.mydeathspace.com.
~jennifer.k~
And now Google knows he is stalking this person. Google knows all.
I have my calendar marked "Public" on Google, and there's no way that this silly article is changing my mind.
This is, to me, akin to the old scare about putting your phone number online.
Do any of you remember? The attitude of the 1990's was: Oh My God Jesus Christ, That Man Has His Phone Number Online! Somebody stop that man, he's a menace to himself, and to Society!
Then I read something Philip Greenspun wrote, where he said: (A) I have X,000,000 gajillion hits on my site per day. (B) My cell phone number is featured prominantly on my website. (C) I have only once received a phone call that was unwelcome, but I have far more many times received phone calls that I wanted (due to the posting.)
Personally, I have never received the unwanted phone call.
I think people have a way of inflating plausible threats to themselves, regardless of the actual risks.
In the event (it has to actually happen several times!) that people start using Google Calendars to raid homes, and in the event that it's statistically significant as far as threats go, I will simply wire up my apartment with cams, hard drives, and redundant offsite storage.
.. of doing exactly what he suggests. Any semi-intelligent person should be able to think up some.
My try:
1. Find some sports club with scheduled activities.
2. Follow home someone that looks like a young professional with a sports bag. You now know their address.
3. Next time that class is on, watch her or his house. If the person leave before the class begins, with their trusted sports bag, you know they are going to the gym. If the person switches off the lights, then you are set!
4. Break in and enjoy the goodies!
This is a lot easier, and you have a bigger chance of figuring out whether the person has anything worth stealing straight away. Fancy clothes is a give-away.
LOL thanks for posting all those hilarious comments guys! They really made my morning one big laugh fest.
I always know I can rely on Slashdot to lift my spirits with the crazy, unpredictable observations of the web's finest aspiring humorists.
An extra special thanks to TFA for driving home the ancient bloody obvious while helping the less informed among us to live in fear. Not enough people live in fear these days or structure their lifestyles around paranoid stalker fantasies! If only more folks would tune in for their local 5:25 identity theft nightmare broadcast, certainly the world would be a much friendlier place.
Let's not get into the barely noticeable assumption that the reader never leaves his house and has no more than a dozen acquaintances. Perhaps for a followup the author could focus on the dangers implicit on going out at night, having more than a handful of friends, being seen on the street, being involved in your neighborhood, etc. God forbid we should announce beyond our most inner circles that we'll be working somewhere or hosting a party. Wait, what's a party?
I found it insanely funny that someone who is basically a blogger would lead with this sentence:
"I find it utterly stupid that people display their lives online."
So I guess after "people" there is an implicit "(other than me)"?
#DeleteChrome